In the midst of the Donald Sterling allegations a lot has been
made of how the NBA, Commissioner Silver, and other owners should hand down
punishment to Sterling. The most popular being that Commissioner Silver should
strip the team away from Donald Sterling and sell to a new owner.
Although this is certainly a solution I
don't believe it is the correct one. The NBA's constitution, bi laws, and
even the U.S. constitution protect this type of action against Sterling. I agree with Marc Cuban when he stated,
"I think there's a constitution for a reason, right? Because this is a very slippery slope," Cuban said before Game 4 of the Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs series. "What Donald said was wrong. It was abhorrent. There's no place for racism in the NBA, any business I'm associated with, and I don't want to be associated with people who have that position. But at the same time, that's a decision I make. I think you've got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It's a very, very slippery slope. Again, there's no excuse for his positions. There's no excuse for what he said. There's no excuse for anybody to support racism. There's no place for it in our league, but there's a very, very, very slippery slope."
"In this
country, people are allowed to be morons," Cuban said. "They're
allowed to be stupid. They're allowed to think idiotic thoughts. ... Within an
organization like the NBA, we try to do what's in the best interest of the
league and that's why we have a commissioner and a constitution and I think
Adam will be smart and deal with Donald with the full extent available. But,
again, if you're saying a blanket, 'Let's kick him out?' I don't want to go
that far because it's not about Donald, it's not about his position, it's about
his mess - and what are we going to make a decision on?”
The answer lies in something more simple.
FANS…DO NOT GO TO ANY
CLIPPERS GAMES!
Hurt Sterling's bottom line! 0 fans, 0 revenue, 0 sponsorship
money, 0 tv rating. Sterling will have
no choice but to sell and a point will be MADE not forced. It is on all of us to take action not just
the NBA and media pundits. Those who stand for liberty,
freedom, respect, prosperity for all, being on Team Good and being against evil, hate, and racism
need to stand up. I have a pretty good
feeling there are a lot of us out there.
In the end the NBA’s hands will be tied in trying to deal with
Sterling. Most likely Sterling will only
be fined and suspended to the extent that is possible. It is also highly probable that Clippers
corporate sponsors will pull their support as well. But for the NBA to be able to get rid of
Sterling it is going to take a bigger statement.
There is no question that Sterling’s comments were atrocious and
have no place in the NBA, but unfortunately I was not surprised. The
alleged tape only confirmed to me what I had felt existed in sports all
along and reminded me of racism I have faced throughout my life. It reminded me that a slave mentality still
exists in certain cultures in this country and that to Donald Sterling his
players are nothing more than prized race horses. Creatures below him which whom he feeds,
clothes, and underpays to make him millions.
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